Full, free rollout of Resource Pins enables teachers from all
grades and states to tap into collective knowledge and experience of
online community

November 13, 2013 10:29 AM Eastern Standard Time

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Education technology provider MasteryConnect today announced the launch
of Resource Pins, a social pinboard-based platform that empowers K-12
teachers to create, collect and share teaching aids. The new addition to
the company's suite of learning software, which includes its popular
CommonCore mobile app, aims to equip educators with their peers' best
practices for teaching Common Core standards.

The Pinterest-inspired interface, which is free for all teachers,
reached more than 10,000 posts (or "pins") within the first few weeks of
its limited pilot phase. Today's full rollout brings crowdsourced lesson
plans, visual aids and other supplemental materials to all grades and
states. Indexed by national and state core requirements, Resource Pins
is a boon to busy educators striving to achieve benchmarks without
losing their personal touch in the classroom, said Mick Hewitt,
MasteryConnect CEO and co-founder.

“Teachers can experiment and find which resources work best and resonate
with their students,” Hewitt said. “The more teachers use it, the more
powerful it becomes.”

The establishment of common standards across state lines has prompted
many teachers to seek out educational resources on professional and
social networks. Some post lesson plans and tests to Facebook and
Twitter, while others turn to premium sharing platforms like TeachersPayTeachers.com.
But none of these platforms enables teachers to tie assessments or
resources to specific Common Core standards.

“The ability to share resources for specific standards makes it so much
easier to find the lesson materials you’re looking for without sifting
through clutter,” Hewitt said. “Finally teachers have a social platform
just for them and for their community."

“I love how you can narrow your search down, not just by grade and
subject but also by state and even down to the individual standard,”
said Justin Bell, who teaches English at Northeast Magnet High School in
Wichita, Kansas. Bell has posted 143 pins to date with ideas for
teaching grammar and vocabulary and sparking discussions about literary
works, like Romeo and Juliet and Slaughterhouse 5. “The
Pinterest setup is visually appealing. It makes for easy scrolling and
quickly finding who and what you’re looking for. Plus, you can follow
and re-pin teachers who post good stuff. It’s very conducive to an
online community.”

MasteryConnect is a cloud-based software company focused on Mastery
Learning in K-12 education. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah,
MasteryConnect provides sharing platforms for educational resources and
assessments tied to the Common Core as well as tools for teachers to
track student performance against those standards.